Civil servants gain protection vs anti-union discrimination

CEBU, Philippines - The Associated Labor Unions-TUCP-Nagkaisa lauded President Rodrigo Duterte and the Senate for ratifying the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 151 that allows government employees to organize and collectively bargain.

Voting unanimously 22-0, last Monday, lawmakers adopted Senate Resolution 454 agreeing to the international treaty that will finally give adequate protection to the country’s 2.3 million civil servants, specifically against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment.

ALU-TUCP president and Nagkaisa labor coalition chairman Michael Mendoza in a statement said the ratification of the convention marks the empowerment of government employees to render improved public service to the Filipino people.

Apart from allowing for government better service, Mendoza said the ratification will also help Duterte in his fight against graft and corruption in government bureaucracy through a government workforce that is receiving better wages and quality benefits in a better workplace.

He thanked Duterte for fulfilling one of his promises to the labor sector by endorsing it to the Senate in May this year.

The ratification of the ILO 151 makes the Philippines the first Asian country to do so. It is expected that other countries in the region will also ratify the measure.

Senator Joel Villanueva in a separate statement hailed the ILO 151 approval, saying this serves as a fitting recognition of the dedication of our country’s public servants.

Villanueva, chairperson of the Senate committee on labor and human resources development, co-sponsored and endorsed the Senate concurrence on the ratification of the said treaty.

"No country has ever developed without a strong, professional, and modern government bureaucracy. We need them now, more than ever, as we wish to transition to an upper middle-income economy,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva further underscored the importance of the said treaty in enabling the public servants to be effective partners in development.

Through the convention, the senator said civil servants are now armed with rights to collective bargaining and negotiation which they hardly had before compared to their counterparts in the private sector. (FREEMAN)